Pttefls



. them apart.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOI-IN S. PEASLEE, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

WASHING-MACHINE.

Specicatonof Letters Patent No. 32,253, dated May 7', 1861.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN S. PEAsLEE, of the city and county of Providence, in the State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Washing- Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following specification', taken in connection with the drawings making a part of thc same, is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

Figure 1 is a perspective View. Fig. 2 is a section in a pla-ne through the axis of the tub and the pounder. Fig. 3 is a spring bottom to be referred to hereafter.

A A is a tub of convenient size provided with the ears Gr G. These ears serve as convenient handles in lifting the tub and also afford lateral bearings for the spring poles C C, which when the machine is in use are stepped in the sockets f f as shown in Fig. 1. The pounder B is suspended by the elastic straps J J secured to the upper extremities of the spring poles and is worked by the handle L. A circular cover in two parts H, I-I is fitted to the top of the tub for the purpose of confining the suds which are formed by the action of the pounder.

All the parts thus far referred to are well known and in common use.

lVithin the tub A I place a false bottom or circular' disk F F, the upper face of which is shelving and the lowest part of the sur` face is perforated with a number of holes g g (Fig. 3). This bottom plate is provided with a number of coiled springs c c c which serve as supports for it to rest upon and tend to keep it raised at any desired height (say six inches) above the bottom of the tub. I also place so as to project above the lowest upper surface of the false bottom a series of pins a a a eachof which has a coiled spring Z) wound around its shank for the purpose of allowing the pins to accommodate themselves to the uneven surface of the clothes in the tub.

The pounder is constructed in two parts D and E the upper part being firmly secured to the handle B while the lower part E made with deep annular grooves in its face is connected with the upper part D by a rubber band extending around the peripheries of both. A coiled spring cl is placed between the twonparts as shown and serves to keep When in the action of the machine the two parts of the pounder are brought toward each other as will be the case at each blow upon the clothes the air will be forced out of the small apertures h in both D and E, provided for the purpose.

It is evident that the effect of two yielding surfaces upon the clothes to be washed will when combined with the elastic pins a a produce a mode of operation similar to that which results from hand rubbing. The agitation of the water is also assisted by the peculiar action of the pounder described beyond that due to a pounder of ordinary construction. The space between the two parts of the pounder is filled with air which will upon the descent of the pounder be nearly expelled and its place supplied with the water which will flow inv at the orifices. When the pounder is lifted, it is in its ordinary action raised above the clothes which are floating upon the surface of the water within the tub and thus the greater portion of the water taken into the pounder is permitted to escape through the same orifices at which it was admitted. The spring also.

acts during the upward stroke to separate 4the two parts of the pounder and thus air is re-admitted. The effect of this action is to agitate the water in the tub more thoroughly and thereby assists in extracting the dirt from the clothes when all that is not held in solution is permitted to find its way through the apertures g g to the bottom of the tub underneath the false bottom.

I am aware that a washing machine consistingV of a common tub with a pounder provided with a- -number of spring pestles has been used. I do not therefore intend to claim a pounder the face of which shall be capable of yielding to the position of the clothes within the tub. Neither do I intend to claim the use of a secondary spring bot-- tom as such device. is shown in the patent granted to Hamilton E. Smith dated October 26, 1858. But

Vhat I do claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is'- The combination of the elastic pounder D, E, constructed substantially as described, with the secondary spring bottom F F provided with the elastic pins e c; such combination affording two yielding surfaces between which the clothes to be washed are acted' upon substantially as specified.

JOHN S. PEASLEE.

Witnesses:

J oHN GARTLAND, J oHN RICHARDSON. 

